Lyra Heartstrings, occasionally called simply either Lyra or Heartstrings, is a female unicornpony who frequently appears as a background character and occasionally in more prominent roles. She has a magic mint coat, brilliant cyan mane and tail with a white streak, sunglow eyes, and a cutie mark of a lyre. The word "heartstrings" refers to deep feelings of love or compassion and is commonly used in the phrase "tug at the heartstrings" which means to cause strong feelings of affection or sympathy.

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Design, development, and production

Lyra Heartstrings shares her design with Amethyst Star, Diamond Mint, and Lemony Gem. Her mane style is the same as Rose's and Silverspeed's, and she shares her tail style with Royal Ribbon. Her color scheme is the same as that of "Skyra". She has the same cutie mark as other ponies from the current generation and previous My Little Pony generations. Respective examples are the Earth pony Lyrica Lilac and the G3 Earth pony Bee Bop.

According to a layout artist on the show, background ponies are nameless, but Lyra Heartstrings was labeled "Incidental Unicorn #2" at the studio prior to being named in merchandise and other media[7] and has still been labeled "Incidental Unicorn #2" at the studio as of May 22, 2013.[8] The same layout artist has used Lyra for background gags,[9] such as jumping excitedly, drinking from a cup, or sitting like a human on a bench. Sweetie Drops and Lyra Heartstrings frequently appear together, a pairing explained by the artist to be mostly coincidental and based on aesthetic considerations, as far as season one is concerned.[9] The artist has referred to Lyra and the Earth ponyvariant of Lyra with moderate cerise eyes as the same pony.[10][11]

Regarding the Alicorn variant of Lyra Heartstrings in the IDW comics' My Little Pony: Friends Forever Issue #7, colorist Heather Breckel stated on July 9, 2014 "Tony drew it, I just thought it looked like her"[12] and "I have no idea if it was intentional or not, and was in the zone when I colored it so I didn't think anything of it. I just like putting Lyras everywhere :yay:",[13] and editor Bobby Curnow stated on July 10, 2014 "That would be a mistake!"[14]

In A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1, Lyra Heartstrings, Minuette, and Twinkleshine are the unwitting bridesmaids of Queen Chrysalis, who is disguised as Princess Cadance. Lyra Heartstrings says she loves the bridesmaids' dresses that Rarity has made. They are bewitched to do Queen Chrysalis' bidding in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2, and try to stop Twilight and the real Cadance from escaping. However, Cadance distracts them with a bouquet of flowers, throwing it into the caves while the bridesmaids jump into the caves after it. They are freed from Chrysalis' control by the end of the episode.

Season three

In Magic Duel, she drinks from a cup and stands next to Sweetie Drops. The two dive for cover when Twilight zaps Pinkie. In Magical Mystery Cure, she attends Twilight's coronation. During Life in Equestria, she jumps excitedly in the crowd as Twilight and her friends pass by.

Lyra has her first major speaking appearance in Slice of Life, where she and Sweetie Drops help decorate the town hall for Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda's wedding. Lyra becomes deeply upset by the revelation that Sweetie Drops, whom she had known as "Bon Bon", has a secret identity as a special agent from Canterlot. They later reconcile in time for the wedding when Lyra divulges one of her own "deepest, darkest secrets", revealing she once ate imported oats that Sweetie Drops had been saving for a special occasion.

Season six

Variants

Running Lyra with moderate cerise eyes.

A number of background ponies have Lyra Heartstrings' design with variations on her color scheme. They are included in the appearances table below. The most common of these is an Earth Pony that looks like Lyra Heartstrings without a horn. A Lyra Heartstrings with moderate cerise eyes occasionally appears in scenes where Lyra Heartstrings runs around town, either on her own - as in Applebuck Season - or as part of a throng of other ponies, as in Boast Busters and The Ticket Master. However, “running Lyra” does not have cerise eyes in Hearts and Hooves Day, and while she has cerise eyes for most of the race in Fall Weather Friends, they are yellow at the beginning of the race. An Earth pony variant with moderate cerise eyes and a bonnet appears in Over a Barrel and Luna Eclipsed.

2:38 – stretching for a bunch of flowers on the ground in the park, 14:01 – with Sweetie Drops outside Sugarcube Corner and marveling at a parasprite, 14:08 – watching the parasprite eat their food and going teary-eyed afterward.

2:30 – jumping up and down excitedly in the crowd (without a vest), 4:08 – singing while attached to a cart of supplies (with an animal team vest), 4:34 – singing with a hedgehog on her back, 17:18 – arguing over the disorder of the wrap-up, 17:20, 18:06 – standing as other ponies walk off, 18:14 – standing on a stool with a nest in her mouth, 20:25 – in the crowd looking at the mayor and Twilight.

7:04 – in Appleloosa with a light blue headdress (hornless), 12:15 – walking in front of a house, 15:46 – running away from the stage with the Appleloosans, 15:56 – running through town, 19:04 – running from the buffalos, 19:20.

11:18 ~ 11:29 – standing in the audience for the performance in Rarity’s flashback, 12:02 – standing in the crowd for the sun-raising ceremony in Canterlot in Twilight Sparkle’s flashback, 12:04 – being pushed by young Twilight (without her horn), 12:12 – watching Princess Celestia take off (with her horn), 12:19 – watching the sun rise (without her horn), 12:25 – cheering.

Duplicates: 12:04 – one earth pony duplicate in the crowd, 12:12 – at least four duplicates in the crowd, 12:19 – one earth pony duplicate.

1:19 - gasping with Sweetie Drops; 5:08 - seeing Coloratura's arrival with Sweetie Drops; 5:56 - waiting in line to get "hoofzies" from Coloratura; 8:09 - talking to Sweetie Drops on the left side of the stage; 8:45 - standing in between Twilight and Sweetie Drops, watching Countess Coloratura perform "The Spectacle"; 9:23 - cheering at the end of Countess Coloratura's number; 10:05 - conversing with Shoeshine and Cherry Berry; 17:56 - standing in the crowd

Lyra Heartstrings is one of the available playable characters in Gameloft's mobile game. A promotional image posted by the official Facebook page of the game on May 7, 2014[16] uses fanart of her,[17] which also appears to match the game's icon of her.

My Little Pony mobile game description

This loving and compassionate unicorn has a lyre for a cutie mark and will certainly tug at anypony's heartstrings!

Merchandise

A mini-figure toy first released in January 2012 appears in the third wave of mystery packs and in a Hasbro-licensed board game, being of the same pony kind and bearing the same cutie mark, coat color, mane color, and eye color as the unnamed character on the show, though her mane is missing the white streak. Her pose and mane style are the same as the Twilight Sparkle mystery pack toy mold. The toy comes in two variations, light teal as the toy pictured to the right, and Irish green as the drawing on the card. The European mystery pack release names her Heartstrings and includes a collector card stating that she "sings all day!" The U.S. mystery pack release names her Lyra Heartstrings and includes a collector card stating that she "sings and plays all day!"[18] The European board game release's Swedish, Danish and Finnish descriptions all name her Lyra Heartstrings as well, while its Norwegian description names her Lyra Heartstring.

Doll for Lyra Heartstrings pony version

A "Pony Wedding" brushable toy named Lyra Heartstrings was displayed in prototype form at the 2012 New York Toy Fair, and was released later in the same year, sometimes with a MiniDVD of Lesson Zero. This brushable toy's packaging still uses the eye design of Twilight Sparkle but uses the mane style usually seen on Minuette and Sea Swirl. According to the package, Lyra Heartstrings "loves to play! She finds a way to have fun no matter where she goes".

The fifth wave of mystery pack toys features a second mini-figure named Lyra Heartstrings, differing from the first mini-figure in that her coat is much lighter and her mane now has a white streak. The European release includes a collector card stating that she "loves to play!" The U.S. release includes a collector card that uses the same description as the previous U.S. collector card.

Upcoming toy releases displayed at the 2013 New York Toy Fair include a Toys "R" Us exclusive brushable release arriving in-store Summer 2013[19] and a third mini-figure with the same pose and mane style as the Rarity mini-figure toy mold.[20]

There is a Lyra Heartstrings Funko figure. A Sweetie Drops Funko figure's online description mentions that "Sweetie Drops is an Earth pony who is identified as a background pony who lives in Lyra Heartstrings."[22]

Lyra adorns a collectible trading card along with Golden Harvest, with the description "There's two in every crowd! Lyra Heartstrings is an excitable pony often seen bouncing and grinning at the back of the herd or lolling in the park sharing bonbons with Golden Harvest, her PFF. Golden Harvest earned the nickname Carrot Top because carrots are always on her mind. These two ponies can be found all over Equestria, enjoying various activities like jumping across rooftops, running from buffalo, and joining in musical numbers!"

In Enterplay's collectible card game, an older version of a card of Zecora, shown at BronyCon 2013, bears the title "Lyra Heartstrings & Bon Bon",[23] and α #201 UR, a card of Lyra Heartstrings, gives her the description "Of all the ponies Twilight Sparkle told about her adventures through the magic mirror, Lyra was by far the most curious." In the game's expansion set The Crystal Games, #39 R and #ƒ18, cards of Lyra, list the quote "Bon Bon! BON BON! Over here!" In the game's expansion set Absolute Discord, #26 C, a card of Lyra, lists the quote "I don't know why I'm the only pony in Ponyville who sits like this. It's comfy!"

WeLoveFine.com carries Hasbro-licensed merchandise of fan designs of Lyra, often posed similarly to her slouch in Dragonshy. The products include T-shirts, art prints, dioramas, and others.

Lyra Heartstrings No. I did not. And you're not the only one with a secret, y'know. You know those expensive, imported oats you were saving for a 'special occasion'? I cooked them all and ate them! All of them! Oohoo! It's sort of thrilling to reveal your deepest, darkest secrets! [laughs]